From: Oceana - Protecting The World’s Oceans
Why Should We Care About Mercury Contamination?
It is well established that mercury is a global problem. Stories about mercury poisoning are appearing in our news and in our neighborhoods. People are increasingly eating fish due to its health benefits and then finding that a diet high in tuna, or high in swordfish may have harmful effects. Governments in the U.S. and Europe have warned women and children against eating particular fish species including swordfish, shark, tilefish, king mackerel, marlin, pike and tuna. Yet few people are aware of the problem, and warnings are not clearly posted where fish are sold.
Mercury released to the environment from industrial sources builds up in wildlife through a process called bioaccumulation. Animals high on the food chain carry the most mercury, and many of the fish we eat are close to the top of the marine food chain.
Decades of pollution have caught up with us; now we have become the victims. In fact, a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist estimates that one out of six women now has enough mercury in her blood to pose neurological risks to her developing child.
Where it Comes From
Perhaps what makes mercury even more dangerous is the deceptively innocent package it comes in. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that fish and fish products - both caught and purchased - are the greatest source of methylmercury ingested by humans. Contaminated fish can be found in all the oceans of the world, as mercury climbs up the marine food chain and onto our dinner plates. Forty-five of the fifty U.S. states issued mercury advisories for recreationally caught fish in 2003.
In the United States,
Nearly 85% of adults consume seafood at least once a month,
40% do so on a weekly basis.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EPA have warned women and children to limit their consumption of certain types of fish. But the effects of mercury are not limited just to women and kids.
Mercury-Based Chlorine Plants Rival Coal-Burning Power Plants as Mercury Polluters
As the extent of mercury contamination in our environment, our bodies and our food comes to light, concern over mercury pollution is increasing. While most media and public attention has focused on coal-burning power plants, most people remain unaware that a small subset of the chlorine industry makes a major - and completely preventable - contribution to the global mercury crisis.
Chlorine is a chemical building-block used in everything from swimming pools to plastic tents to paper towels. In 1894, a process was devised to produce chlorine by pumping a saltwater solution (brine) through a vat of mercury, or “mercury-cell,” that catalyzes an electrolytic chemical reaction.
Newer technologies that do not use mercury have been developed, but a number of plants around the world have continued to use the unnecessary and outdated technology.
There are nine mercury-based chlorine facilities in the United States and 53 such facilities in Europe. In the United States, these plants release more mercury per plant than a power plant. The problem is likely to be even worse, since these factories also cannot account for tons of “lost” mercury every year. To learn more about these plants, read Poison Plants: Chlorine Factories are a Major Global Source of Mercury.http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
The Effects of Mercury on Children
Mercury is a contaminant that hits developing children the hardest. Mercury, which generally comes from a high fish diet, can travel across the placenta from the mother to the fetus, meaning exposure to the dangerous poison often begins in the womb during a baby’s most vulnerable developmental period. Not only can children and fetuses be harmed by lower concentrations of mercury than adults, but because they are in a more active development stage they are especially vulnerable to mercury’s toxic effects.
Consider these statistics:
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist has said that an estimated one in six pregnant women has enough mercury in her blood to pose risks such as brain damage to her developing baby.
This means that hundreds of thousands of newborns each year in the United States may have been exposed to enough mercury to cause problems with the development of their nervous systems.
The Effects of Mercury on Adults
Adults who consume high levels of mercury can also experience a variety of toxic effects, mostly related to the nervous system and the brain, which control sensory and motor activities. Behavior, memory, and learning processes are affected by mercury contamination. Also, new studies show that the cardiovascular and reproductive systems can be damaged as well.
In other words, a large number of people in our society are ingesting dangerous amounts of a toxic substance every day. And few have any idea they are doing so. Though public recognition of this health hazard has been slow to develop, there are several clear instances of mercury poisoning that have been widely publicized. Here are just a few examples:
Dr. Jane Hightower, a medical doctor in San Francisco noticed that many of her patients were experiencing symptoms related to mercury exposure, including depression, loss of scalp hair, metallic taste, headaches, arthritic pain, irritability, tremors, and numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. In some cases, the symptoms were so severe that the patients were having trouble earning a living or doing well in school. After several tests and dietary studies, the symptoms were linked to diets high in seafood. These are what two of Dr. Hightower’s patients experienced:
A surgeon had tremors so bad she was afraid she’d have to give up operating.
A geophysicist was forced to quit work, noting severe memory problems and inability to think. He also suffered from slurred speech and poor balance. Though he stopped eating fish, he suffered permanent brain damage of a type almost always associated with heavy metal exposure.
In May, 2004, Donna Elrick was interviewed by a TV news program in the Washington, D.C. area. She had been losing her short- and long-term memory. After a visit to her doctor, the cause was determined to be high levels of mercury which were linked to a diet high in fish.
[I]"Love of fish almost kills a man” [/I] blared the headlines in Duluth, Minnesota in early 1993. Henry (Buddy) Henk, Jr. suffered from sores that would not heal, leg and back pain, eventual loss of feeling in his legs, and a loss of 100 lbs. He was hospitalized and suffered from hallucinations. He “didn’t recognize his own wife” and “ground his teeth down to the bone.” Once his wife mentioned that his diet was high in fish from a lake a few miles from his home, he was tested and discovered to have “severe mercury toxicity.”
Mercury Poisoning Stories From Oceana Activists http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
Mercury is a dangerous and insidious agent, but its effects can be reduced by knowing what is and is not safe to eat, and acting accordingly. Not all fish are high in mercury. And many low-mercury fish are high in Omega-3 fatty acids which are a beneficial part of our diets.
More on the Health Effects of Mercury http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
What does the FDA advise? http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
What are Other Sources of Beneficial Omega Fatty Acids? http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
PRESS RELEASE: Oceana Report Exposes Chlorine Industry As Global Mercury Polluter (PDF Download) http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
Where Can I Get More Information About Mercury? http://www.oceana.org/mercury/index.html
(c) 2005 Oceana.
